Beaufort County officials are beginning to implement changes to address intersection safety at the Pinecrest development along Bluffton Parkway, but they're still expressing reservations about meeting resident demands for a new traffic signal.

Officials posted a speed limit reduction to 35 mph last week near where Crossings Boulevard and Masters Way meet Bluffton Parkway, but they told a County Council subcommittee Tuesday that they also might restrict left turns at the intersection residents call perilously narrow. Adding a traffic signal, however, comes with potential drawbacks and difficulties related to funding and the rights to the road, said County Administrator Gary Kubic.

Although county staff are saving formal recommendations for later in December, transportation engineer Colin Kinton reiterated that the bulk of manuevers made at the intersection are right-hand turns and new traffic signals come with disadvantages even if warranted, which a study based on federal guidelines has called into question. He said only two wrecks in the last three and a half years were related to crossing the intersection, with most resulting from rear-end collisions that a signal might increase while causing delay.

"They're not a panacea for solving all of our problems," he said. "There's other things we need to consider."

Kinton's study found about 15 percent of the daily manuevers from both sides of Pinecrest are left-hand turns. An alternative he put forth would require drivers to make right turns then pull a U-turn instead of turning left.

Councilman Jerry Stewart endorsed the left-hand-turn restriction but asked Kinton if that modification would allow the county to restore the previous speed limit of 45 mph.

"To me it's not a very satisfactory situation," he said. "You're defeating the purpose of the parkway."

Kinton confirmed the county could go back to the previous speed limit, but he said portions of the parkway around Simmonsville and Malphrus roads are 35 miles per hour.

Issues remain with the road itself, which is private and part of a town of Bluffton development agreement that doesn't involve county jurisdiction, Kubic said, adding the last attempt to change the right of way about a year ago failed because the deal retained developer rights. Typically the law forbids spending public money for "a perceived benefit on private property," he said.

"It's not so much a precedent, but it does raise questions about using public money on private property," Kubic said.

Beyond that, the site distance, which was shaped by an earlier decision to install a golf cart tunnel between the two sides of Pinecrest, could present "corresponding consequences" with the introduction of a traffic signal.

"I can't - nor will I - make a recommendation to introduce a light without a corresponding solution to potential stacking at the other end," he said.

With 22 other signal requests county-wide, officials have to maintain consistent reviews, Kubic said, adding he's still working with Bluffton on the right-of-way issue and possible cost sharing with the developer.

The two Pinecrest residents who spoke after the meeting weren't mollified.

Phyllis Lambert, the Pinecrest resident who started a petition for the signal, argued forbidding left-hand turns shifts the risk for a rear-end collision to the U-turn area and study data underplays the dangers of the intersection.